Author: Lamar
How the Denver Public Library ended up owning the Rocky Mountain News archive
Among the many stories shared at the recent “Dodging the Memory Hole” forum at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute, none were more gripping and significant than the tale of how the Denver Public Library ended up owning the Rocky Mountain News archive. Like any good investigative report, the backstory is important to understand because … Continued
That’s engagement: Forum participants plot course to preserve born-digital news content
The opportunity to advance the preservation of born-digital news is real. That’s my takeaway from the Dodging the Memory Hole: Saving Born-digital News Content forum, which was held Nov. 10-11 at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism. One of the primary objectives of the event was to help build … Continued
Futures Lab update 84: Engagement using text messages, and corrections via social media
This week we learn about a platform for engaging with audiences via text messages, and we explore how to handle corrections to social media posts. PART 1: Groundsource A new platform called Groundsource seeks to help newsrooms interact with their communities outside the confines of smartphones and social media, instead relying on more basic text … Continued
Videos from Dodging the Memory Hole: Saving Born-digital News Content
In today’s digital newsrooms, a software/hardware crash can wipe out decades of text, photos, videos and applications in a fraction of a second. Digital archives can easily become obsolete due to evolving formats and digital systems used by modern media, not to mention media failure, bit-rot and link-rot. One recent survey found that most American … Continued
MobileVideoDIY giving away 10 free mobile gear bags to student journalism programs
Columbia, Missouri — Journalism teachers are no longer limited in their ability to add video to their curriculum because of the high cost of professional cameras and gear. Using smartphones and many free supporting apps, videos can now be shot, edited and shared with the world with a quality consistent with professionals. Teachers and students … Continued
Plus-size iPhone 6 makes reading long stories and watching videos on a smartphone more pleasurable
News organizations could take advantage of larger display size for information graphics and advertising After using an iPhone 6 Plus exclusively for a month, I’ve concluded that I can get along just fine without my Wi-Fi-only iPad mini in my daily routines. It won’t replace my iPad entirely, but I’ll be using it much less … Continued
News companies as tech companies: Some venture capitalists say yes
For years, the drumbeat among venture capitalists has been that content is expensive and is not worth their investment. But we’ve seen a turnaround, and the question is, why now? The answer may simply be optimism. As Hamish McKenzie and Sarah Lacy wrote in Pando Daily of the return to content: Large funding rounds don’t … Continued
‘Losing a piece of you’: The fragility of digital news archives
In 2002, The Columbia Missourian received a shock when it lost a significant portion of its digital archives. A server crash wiped out 15 years of precious and painstaking work of journalists, photographers and editors. The data loss also weakened the paper’s link to the who, how, what, when and why of changes in mid-Missouri … Continued
Credibility of mainstream news media fares better among mobile media users
2014 RJI Mobile Media Research Report 9 Mobile media users are more likely than nonusers to give higher credibility rankings to national newspapers and most other mainstream news media (see charts 9.8 and 9.9), according to the latest mobile media news consumption survey from the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI). They also tend to … Continued
Digital archives not as complete or long-lasting as they should be — or could be
On a blustery February day in 1981, a two-sentence story moved on the Texas AP wire reporting the death of Bill Haley. It said something like: HARLINGEN, Tex. (AP) — Former Rock ‘n Roll star Bill Haley, 55, was found dead today. Police say they are investigating, but don’t suspect foul play. I was the … Continued